More machines coming to Endurance Brasil

The 2023 Império Endurance Brasil season opener at the Velo Citta revealed a bunch of new things, but truth is that there's more coming for the next round at Goiânia and further into the year.

During the race broadcast last Saturday (25), not only the booth spoke about the new cars, but even JLM Racing's David Muffato gave hints of the upcoming grid boost.

It will go both ways, but mostly the relatively large P1 field will see at least one prototype returning and two arriving in Brazil for teams already involved in the championship.

The returning car is the second Sigma P1 G5, which remained with Scuderia Chiarelli, but was written off at Velo Citta due to a heavy crash. This is an entirely new car as their original example was acquired by Motorcar Racing.

Swapping equipment, AMattheis Motorsport will depart from their Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo to join the prototype side for the first time in Endurance Brasil, having chosen a Ligier JS P320. The AMG GT3 MY16 was a contender for overall wins some years ago, which allowed the team to conquer a title, but as the JLM Racing AJR and the Sigma P1 got more consistent, winning it outright with a GT3 became more difficult, and this certainly triggered the change.

Another team joining BTZ Motorsport in the Ligier club is FTR Motorsport, which competed with the MCR GrandAm until the last 3 Hours of Velo Citta. The car was left alone in the P2 class, and with the GP1 spec car clearly showing its age compared to the modern competition, it was seen mostly running on its own.

Despite some interesting prospects like a P2 class Sigma P1 G5, the appeal of the P2 class practically vanished like the P2 Light class, and with no possibility of entries in the lower prototype ranks, it was better to move up to compete for overall wins.

According to Muffato, further two undisclosed prototypes will join the competition in the near future, which will put the P1 class in the impressive number of 17 cars.

On the GT side, the news in the paddock is that a pair of GT3 cars will come later in the season, although the teams that acquired them are unknown. With at least one GT3 being free for business, the class won't have losses despite the rising interest in the prototype class.

Next up for the championship is a visit to Goiânia, set for 6 May.

PHOTO: Endurance Brasil/MS2